MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Sustainability is crucially important and superyacht owners and the marine sector obviously want to play their parts. It is a fact that the level of success resulting from limiting the use of natural resources can vary greatly. Some design and build teams are.

Nilaya: both comfort and high performance (new photo)

Unlike most shipyards today, Royal Huisman has been building sailing vessels since it was founded in 1884. When Jan Huisman opened a yard to build small workboats and fishing boats, the hulls were wooden and so were the clogs the shipwrights wore to stay out of the mud. Many things have changed and the shipyard has evolved from “a local builder of wooden workboats” to to receiving our Royal Warrant nearly 40 years ago while we innovatively created of some of the finest superyachts in the world. Our core business model has never changed — we build unique quality vessels by hand, including 26 yachts measuring longer than 40 metres / 131 feet.

Over the years, the shipyard team developed many smart solutions, several of which became industry-trendsetters. Royal Huisman has a rich history of in house innovations that re-shaped industry practices and have been the backbone of the shipyard’s success. Consider, for example, that Royal Huisman has built 173 aluminium yachts during the last 60 years and added carbon fibre to its capability last century. The shipyard’s latest revolutionary Featherlight™ method is a holistic lightweight approach to yacht building combining various complimentary weight-saving solutions utilizing aluminum and carbon fiber components.

Nilaya Following extensive summer cruising by her owners, the team is able to share some stunning new previews of Nilaya, the yacht that pioneered Royal Huisman’s comprehensive Featherlight™ approach. This 47m / 154ft state-of-the-art performance cruiser, with naval architecture by renowned racing yacht designer Reichel/Pugh and exterior and interior by Nauta Design, was delivered by the shipyard earlier this year. Continuous weight monitoring throughout the build confirmed the shipyard achieved its goal of slicing 11% of the weight of its typical advanced aluminum cruising yachts via this process. Most importantly, it has reduced weight without sacrificing stiffness or cutting corners on quality and comfort. Nilaya is expected to flex her innovations on the Caribbean racing circuit and next summer’s maxi circuit in the Med.

Read the original Royal Huisman announcement.